Chapter 136

Nathaniel couldn't recall the last time his lips had touched Harrison's.

All he knew was the electric current shooting through his veins from that single kiss. She'd breached his defenses effortlessly, playful yet determined, like a kitten batting at yarn before decisively pouncing.

Heat flooded his body, rising from his spine to his skull. She might as well have stolen his soul.

His breathing grew ragged as he loomed over her, their bodies separated only by millimeters of charged air.

The realization that his body remembered her touch made him want to swear.

He hadn't been with Isabella. At his age, physical needs existed, but he'd always remained emotionally detached. Until Harrison.

That stormy night had awakened something primal in him. Now every contact with her reignited that hunger, an ache he couldn't suppress.

It was infuriating.

Nathaniel reluctantly withdrew his hand from her slender neck, allowing Harrison to gulp fresh air.

She squirmed beneath his weight. "Nathaniel, get off me!" Her palms pressed against his chest.

His bloodshot eyes narrowed as he braced himself against the window frame. "Are you certain you didn't drink a milkshake?" The lingering sweetness on her lips was undeniable.

Harrison immediately covered her mouth.

"Artificial sweeteners are unhealthy..."

"Homemade ones aren't harmful. One won't kill Grandmother."

Her lips carried both sweetness and a faint creaminess - whether from the drink or her natural essence, he couldn't tell.

Harrison possessed a youthful vibrancy that Isabella, for all her sophistication, lacked.

Nathaniel's gaze dropped to her kiss-swollen lips, then rose to meet her eyes.

What was he doing?

That kiss had been her desperate escape attempt, nothing more.

Yet here he was, wanting to taste her again.

The intensity of his stare made Harrison duck under his arm, putting two paces between them.

The charged atmosphere shattered like glass.

Nathaniel straightened his tie, composing himself.

"If there's nothing else, Mr. Falcon, I should return to campus," Harrison said, maintaining her distance.

"I didn't dismiss you."

A soft knock interrupted them. Dominic entered with a stack of papers. "The exam materials you requested, sir."

Exam papers?

Nathaniel dumped the stack in Harrison's lap. "You're completing these tonight."

Harrison gaped at the thick pile. Was he serious?

Did he even know who he was dealing with?

Tomorrow, she'd make him regret this. But tonight... she was trapped.

With a huff, she began working.

Nathaniel didn't glance her way again, burying himself in documents.

An hour slipped by unnoticed. When Nathaniel finally looked up, Harrison lay slumped over the desk, fast asleep.

Again?

Approaching silently, he froze at the sight of her completed papers...